Technical workshop on development of National Youth Entrepreneurship Policies

Dar es Salaam (NEWS): The Commonwealth Secretariat, in partnership with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the ILO and the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Youth and the people with Disabilities of Tanzania, are organizing a regional capacity-building workshop on the development of national youth entrepreneurship frameworks, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 25 to 27 May 2016.

The workshop to be officiated by the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office - Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the people with Disabilities of Tanzania, Hon. Jenista Mhagama (MP), will attract about 60 participants from Commonwealth East African states - Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia and Zambia. They will include representatives from ministries of Youth, Labour, Commerce, Industry and Planning.

The overall objective is to develop and enhance the capacity of policymakers to design and implement policies and programmes and establish institutions that will promote youth entrepreneurship.

Participants will review and analyse the current state of youth entrepreneurship in the region, identify existing challenges and opportunities and share good practices and policies. It will also be an opportunity to build on the success of other related Commonwealth initiatives.

As youth entrepreneurship must be considered in the context of the national employment outlook and trade development objectives, the workshop will also analyse the broader youth employment situation in the sub region, the trade constraints of SME’s and examine additional strategies that could be adopted to address critical challenges.

In a nutshell, the workshop will cover the following areas, amongst others:

• The gravity of the youth unemployment challenge in East Africa and the role and potential of youth entrepreneurship in addressing it and the linkages between youth entrepreneurship and trade competitiveness
• The processes, structures and programmes required to put in a place an effective national youth entrepreneurship policy and integrate it into broader national development planning and implementation in line with the principles outlined in the Commonwealth-UNCTAD Policy Guide on Youth Entrepreneurship and
• Preparation of National Action Plans and Roadmaps for identifying existing gaps and opportunities in entrepreneurship sector and developing national youth entrepreneurship policies

As a follow up, participants will work with their respective governments to integrate youth entrepreneurship in their national development planning in line with these guidelines.

Background

In 2012, the ILO’s “Call for action,” meant to tackle the global youth employment crisis, warned that persistent youth unemployment and underemployment carry very high social and economic costs and threaten the fabric of our societies.

The challenge is particularly acute in developing countries where jobs in the formal sector are few while those in the informal sector are often unstable, unsafe and poorly paid.

Further, in Africa the number of young people is also growing rapidly. According to the UN DESA, Africa has 226 million people between the ages of 15 and 24. By 2030, the African youth population will have increased by 42 percent. Empowering young people to consider entrepreneurship as their vocation has to be a critical component in policies and strategies. The ILO estimates that SMEs that are often run by first-generation entrepreneurs play a key role in job creation, providing two thirds of all formal jobs in developing countries.